Judges 2018

Scientific Director of Wine Without Walls “Agile” Edition 2020

Monty Waldin became the first wine writer to specialize in organic and biodynamic wines in the mid-1990s, and writes the entries on organic, biodynamic and natural wine for the Oxford Companion to Wine (ed. Jancis Robinson MW OBE). He has worked in vineyards and wineries in both hemispheres, and was the subject of Chateau Monty, the first TV series to follow the making of a biodynamic wine from pruning to bottling for Britain’s Channel Four in 2008.

I Giudici

SOUTH AFRICA

Richard Kershaw MW

Master of Wine, Founder and Winemaker of Richard Kershaw Wines

Born and raised in the UK, Richard travelled extensively, harvesting in California, Chile, Bordeaux, Hungary, and Germany before settling in South Africa in 1999 to make wine full-time.

He established Richard Kershaw Wines in January 2012 to create clonally selected, site-specific, cool climate wines in the Elgin Valley, and now has a stable of award-winning, much-in-demand wines. In addition to this, Richard was approached by Naked Wines UK in 2012 to make an exclusive range of wines under the Richard’s Label, which is now available to over 400,000 angels. He has recently launched a smaller selection of wines with Naked Wines USA.

One of only 10 Masters of Wine who actively make their own wines and South Africa’s only winemaking Master of Wine, Richard is much in demand when not in the vineyard or cellar. A wine judge for many prestigious competitions around the globe, he is also part of the educational panel for the Institute of Masters of Wine, lectures for the WSET in South Africa, and shares his knowledge with students and consumers via talks, tastings, and blogs. In 2021 he was elected as a member of the Cape Winemakers Guild, which brings together a select number of the top South African winemakers who have demonstrated excellence and innovation in winemaking.

USA

Christopher Barnes

Founder and Publisher at Grape Collective

Christopher Barnes is currently Editor and Publisher of Grape Collective an online wine magazine that combines high quality wine journalism with a seamless eCommerce experience. Grape Collective has produced over 300 video interviews on location with winemakers around the world and features writing by some of wine journalism’s top stars including former Wall Street Journal wine critic Dorothy J. Gaiter. Prior to starting Grape Collective Barnes was President of The Observer Media Group, publisher of The New York Observer. Barnes was co-founder and Publisher of amNewYork newspaper, New York’s largest free daily newspaper which was eventually sold to the Tribune Company. Amongst other media start-ups he was also involved in the co-founding of the Cocoa Beach/Cape Canaveral Press weekly newspaper and The London Monthly magazine. He has an MBA from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts.

AUSTRALIA

Gill Gordon Smith IWE

Italian Wine Expert, CEO of La Madrina Wines

Gill Gordon Smith IWE is an awarded wine communicator, winemaker and educator with an international profile and a passion for alternative varieties, grapes and wines with extensive experience in judging both in Australia and Internationally.

She is an Italian Wine Expert with VIA, a Certified Specialist of Wine, French and Italian wine scholar, Certified Sherry Specialist, and she is the winemaker and owner of La Madrina wines as well as the lead educator and co-ordinator for the Wine and Spirit School TAFESA and Lecturer for Wines of the World at Flinders university. She was an integral part of the award-winning team who developed the Qantas sommelier in the sky program rolled out in 7 cities, 4 countries and trained over 7000 staff.

Her personal awards and achievements include:

• Qantas airways international achievement award- Qantas sommelier in the sky program
• 2017 WCA Educator of the year
• 2017 WCA Wine communicator of the year
• 2018 finalist AWIWA Winemaker of the year
• 2020 AWIWA Woman of inspiration
• WCA Mentor program: 3 years as Mentor to some amazing women in wine

Team awards include:

• WSET finalist top ten wine schools for WSS TAFE SA 2019
• WCA Educator of the Year
• WSS TAFE SA 2020

Regine Lee MW

Master of Wine, National Account Manager at Liberty Wines

Regine Lee is currently working as Customer Services Head of Operations at Liberty Wines, a leading UK importer / distributor to the on and off-trade which specialises in Italian wine. She has had roles at Liberty Wines in trade marketing, education, and sales analytics, and at the Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET) in Asian market development. Regine is also a co-founder of Women in Wine London, a wine trade networking group with over 600 members which launches initiatives to develop women professionally and provide a forum for discussing key topics in the industry. She achieved her Master of Wine in 2018, and wrote her research paper on the commercial effectiveness of relationship building through customer trips.